Operating rod for car couplers



Filed March 27, 1937 Patented Dec. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE mesne assignments,

to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Delaware Application March 27,

3 Claims.

The invention relates to railway car couplers mounted on the car to move longitudinally of the car in buff and draft; to move sidewise of the car in rounding curves and for coupling and 6- for slight vertical movement, all of which movements occur while the car is in normal service.

An object of the invention is to provide such a device comprising an operating rod having a handle adjacent the side of the car, which rod may be moved longitudinally of itself for operating engagement with or disengagement from the means to unlock the coupler.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for operating the coupler from adjacentv crating rod handle inoperative for undesired operation of the coupler lock.

The device is especially adaptable to couplers provided with a depending part for transmitting operating movements to the coupler look upon vertical movement thereof, such as, for instance, as shown in Kinne Patent No. 1,639,301 of August 16, 1927, and Kinne Patent No. 1,985,036 of December 18, 1934.

In the drawing:

Figs. 1 and 2 show a typical application of my device to a railway car.

Fig. 3 shows a side view of a coupler and a part of my device.

Fig. 4 shows an enlarged view of my connection between the operating rod and the coupler rotary member in one position, and

Fig. 5 shows the same elements in another position.

In the form of the invention illustrated the coupler is provided with a swingable member 2 for transmitting operating movements to the coupler lock 3 upon rotation thereof, which member is pivotally connected to the coupler head at one end 4 and operatively connected to the lock of the coupler at the other end 5 and is provided with an eye 6 intermediate said connections. The swingable member 2 is also provided with preferably depending prongs 8-9 adjacent the eye 6.

The outer end of the operating rod in, that is, the end adjacent the side of the car, is rotatably and slidably supported by the bracket II and is provided with a depending handle I2 to facilitate rotation thereof.

The inner end of the operating rod I0 is proso as to renderthe swinging movements of the op-.

1937, Serial No. 133,325

vided with a return bend portion M which is positioned between the prongs 8-9 to prevent the handle l2 from swinging incident to the movements of the car. The operating rod I0 is slidably supported in the eye 6 of the swingable member 2 to move longitudinally of itself so that in one position the return bend portion I4 is between the prongs 89 (as shown in Fig. 4) so that rotation of the rod l0 swings the member 2 and transmits operating movements to the coupler lock and when the rod [0 is moved longitudinally of itself to another position the return bend portion it is moved from between the prongs 8-9 (as shown in Fig. 5) so that the rod Ill may be rotated, or the handle l2 may swing, independently of the member 2. When the several elements are associated, as shown in Fig. 5, it is immaterial whether the handle [2 swings or not.

The inside surfaces of the prongs 89 are diagonally disposed and the end of the return bend portion I4 is wedge shaped l9 to assure entry of such portion between the prongs. Furthermore, if desired, the operating rod may be provided with a wedge shaped part 20 which rests in a V-shaped aperture 6 (see Fig. 3) to assure a proper relationship between the end of the return bend portion and the prongs as the rod is moved toward the prongs, or in other words, to align the return bend portion with the prongs.

I preferably mount the operating rod upon the car with the end thereof adjacent the side of the car higher than the end connected to the coupler (as shown in Fig. 2) so that gravity and jolting tend to move the return bend portion [4 from between the prongs 89 so that normally the operating rodhas a rotatable connection to the rotary member. The shoulder 18 on the operating rod limits the lengthwise movement of the operating rod. The operator by merely pulling the handle 12 towards himself establishes a non-rotatable relationship between the rotary member and the operating rod.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a railway car, the combination of a coupler provided with a swingable member for transmitting operating movements to the coupler lock, said swingable member provided with an eye and spaced apart prongs adjacent said eye, and an operating rod supported adjacent the side of the car and provided with a return bend portion at its inner end, said rod being slidably supported in said eye to move longitudinally of itself so that in one position the return bend portion is between said prongs; so that rotation of said rod swings said member and when the rod is moved longitudinally of itself to another position the return bend portion is moved from between said prongs so that said rod may be rotated independently of said member.

2. In a railway car, the combination of a coupler provided with a swingable member for transmitting operating movements to the coupler lock, said swingable member provided with an eye and spaced apartprongs adjacent said eye, and an operating rod supported adjacent the side of the car and provided with a return bend portion at its inner end positioned between said prongs so that rotation of said rod swings said member, said rod being slidably supported in said eye to move longitudinally of itself, said operating rod mounted upon the car with the end thereof adjacent the side of the car higher than the end at the coupler so that gravity tends to move the return bend portion from between the prongs so that normally the operating rod may be rotated independently of said member but may be moved longitudinally of itself by an operator until said return bend portion is positioned between said prongs.

3. In a railway car, the combination of a coupler provided with a swingable member for transmitting operating movements to the coupler lock, said swingable member provided with an eye having l-shaped lower walls and spaced apart depending prongs adjacent said eye, and an operating rod supported adjacent the side of the car and provided with a return bend portion] at its inner end, said rod being slidably supported in said eye to move longitudinally of itself so that in one position the return bend portion is between said prongs to provide a rotative relation be tween the rod and the swingable member and when the rod is moved longitudinally of itself to another position the return bend portion is moved from between said prongs so as to provide a nonrotative relation between the rod and the swingable member, said operating rod provided with a wedge-shaped part engageable with V-shaped lower walls provided in said eye to align the return bend portion with the prongs.

VINTON E. SISSON. 

